


Time Is A Great Healer

by scarletladyy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hate Sex, Miscarriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-10
Updated: 2012-06-10
Packaged: 2017-11-20 22:28:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/590342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletladyy/pseuds/scarletladyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco and Hermione have been going out in secret for a while now, though their relationship is mostly based on sex. One night, in the heat of the moment, they forget to use a contraception spell and Hermione falls pregnant. With blood prejudice rife and disallowed among pure-blood families, Draco demands she abort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Is A Great Healer

**Author's Note:**

> Written for wizard_love 2012. This fic is set in a world without Voldemort and the war. However, blood prejudice is even more of an issue and it would not be taken lightly if Draco were to be found sleeping with a Muggle-born, let alone fathering a child with one.

There wasn't much that infuriated Hermione more than someone agreeing to meet her and then refusing to turn up. As she paced the room waiting for her companion, all she could think about was everything she could be doing if she wasn't waiting. She knew very well that Harry and Ron would tell her to just bugger off to the library and never see Draco again, but apart from the fact that the latter was nearly impossible due to their Head Boy and Girl responsibilities, she actually wanted to meet up with Draco.

Anyone who thought they knew her would say she'd gone bonkers, but that simply proved that they didn't know her at all. Though, to be fair, if anyone had told Hermione a year ago that Draco Malfoy—the most prejudiced pure-blood she'd ever come across bar his father—would ask her out, she'd have ended up in fits of giggles. Yet, that was precisely what had happened.

"Where _have_ you been?" Hermione rounded on Draco the second he walked into the room, and he didn't look at all startled by her outburst. It rather looked like he'd expected it, prepared for it even.

"I got caught up playing Quidditch with Blaise," Draco muttered. He dropped his things on the floor by the door—a trait Hermione had always found irritating—and settled onto the sofa.

Hermione arched an eyebrow.

"Well I could hardly tell him I couldn't wait to get back to my room, could I?" Draco snapped.

"You couldn't wait to see me?" Hermione asked, and then realised she was falling for his distraction. "Look, if you say you'll meet me at five o'clock then meet me at five o'clock! It's seven thirty now and there are many other things I could have done in that time. I don't just sit around waiting until you want to see me again."

"Maybe you should," Draco muttered. He Summoned a can of coke from the kitchen in the corner of the room and watched Hermione's face twist into one of aggravation. Nobody could get her back up like Draco.

"I wish you'd stop drinking my coke," Hermione said, changing the subject. "My mum only sends me a few cans every so often and you're always going on about how they're inferior to anything a wizard has ever made."

Draco shrugged. "Get me something else to drink then." His finger poised over the can, ready to open it if she weren't willing to get him something else. And she wasn't. "Fine. Have it your way."

The sound of the can opening was deafened by Hermione's frustrated scream. She was so very glad one of the first Charms she'd put on their dorm was a Silencing one, having known how often she would end up screaming at Draco. "Ugh. I'm having a bath." She practically ran to the bathroom just to get away from him, taking great pleasure in slamming the door behind her. She sat on the edge of the bathtub and Charmed it to run for her as she stared at the patterns the bubble bath she was pouring in made. 

The calming smell of lavender was helping to de-stress Hermione. It was no wonder she'd gone through nearly three times as many bottles since she and Draco had been forced to share a dorm. She undressed, carefully folding each article and placing them on the toilet, and then dipped her elbow in the water to check it wasn't too hot or cold. Just as she was about to step in, the door banged open and Draco stood there, arms folded, staring at her. Instinctively she covered herself up and frowned.

"You do know why we've been arguing so often lately, don't you?"

"Because you're a monumental prat."

"No," Draco said through gritted teeth. "Because we haven't fucked in two weeks."

"I really don't think—" Hermione started, but Draco cut her off by stalking forwards and passionately kissing her. Instantly she realised exactly why he'd been getting on her nerves so much, and she hated to admit it, but he was right. The basis of their relationship was sexual, because they didn't really like each other that much.

Draco pulled away and smirked. "See?"

Hermione wouldn't agree aloud, but she did kiss him and start to undo his robes. She closed her eyes as they kissed sloppily and panted, both struggling to get Draco naked before either of them decided it wasn't a good idea. Regardless, at the end of the day they had to live together, and if shagging was the only way to keep the peace, so be it. Besides, there was the added bonus of it actually feeling good and fulfilling several needs. Since Ron refused to get his act together, Hermione had to satisfy herself wherever she could.

"God, Granger," Draco whispered as he picked her up and carried her towards his bed. They always fucked on his bed. She wouldn't allow it on hers. She was roughly thrown onto the Slytherin-green duvet, but his bed was so comfy it didn't hurt. He jumped on top of her, straddled her legs and began kissing her again as his hands roamed her body. He wasn't soft or gentle, he never was, but she liked that. This wasn't a loving embrace or an expression of love; this was nothing more than pure lust.

"Fuck me," Hermione squeaked. He spread her legs as wide as they would go and placed his cock at her entrance, only lingering a moment before thrusting into her with all he had. He didn't need lube; she'd been as wet as October since he first kissed her. Something about him always got her aroused. Perhaps it was that he didn't treat her as though she were about to break, or walk on eggshells afraid of what might upset her. Ron did that and that's why she'd said no when he'd asked her out recently.

She wanted to be treated like this, and she just couldn't see Ron ever doing it. So she had to settle for the ferret. He was a good fuck. He hadn't been a virgin the first time they'd had sex, though she had been. The rumours about him were well known and completely accurate. As soon as Draco had realised she was a virgin, upon fingering her that very first night, he'd slowed down and been gentler. A lot rougher than she'd expected, but that only made her see exactly why she wanted to shag him.

"Faster." Her command was short and sweet and Draco happily obliged. He didn't look at her face, just stared at her breasts as he tightly gripped her hips and pounded into her. She was desperate, filled with a huge desire to come, and brought her right hand down to rub her clit furiously. They usually didn't leave it so long between shags because of this, but they'd both been busy lately and it had been hard to get away from their friends, professors and commitments. Just thinking about her friends and how they'd judge her for having sex with none other than Draco Malfoy was turning her on even more and she found herself growing nearer to the edge with every thrust and rub of her finger. 

Knowing his body extremely well by now, Hermione knew Draco was near to coming too. He was groaning and trying to increase his speed, his balls slapping against her arse and making the sound she used to be embarrassed of.

"Oh God, Granger," Draco panted, thrusting twice more and then spilling his seed inside her. This was all she needed to climax herself, her body spasming with pleasure as he slowly pulled out and collapsed next to her on the bed. She squeezed her breasts and rubbed her clit as fast as she could as her orgasm reached its peak, not caring that Draco's eyes were on her. He'd seen her come harder than that before, though she'd rather they never spoke of _that_ particular night again. "Out."

Hermione hadn't even caught her breath when he spoke, but he always did this. Kicked her out as soon as he was done with her. She'd be annoyed if she didn't hate every second she spent in his company (except for when he was shagging her, that was).

Happily satisfied, Hermione bounced off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. She was half way there when she noticed his come running down her legs and she realised they'd forgot the contraception spell.

*

Hermione sat at her desk, looking out the window at the falling rain, biting her lip and playing with her hair. She was anxious. She was scared. She was _screwed_. Right about now she could do with the morning after pill; it'd still work, it'd only been two days, but there was no way for her to get into the Muggle world and get to a doctors or pharmacy.

For all the spells the wizarding world had, one they severely lacked was an emergency contraception spell. They had the general contraception spell, the one to stop witches getting pregnant in the first place, but nothing for after sex. She'd always known wizards were backward, but they really needed to catch up in this area. Mind, she hadn't actually known of any cases of teenage pregnancy among witches and wizards, so she supposed they didn't need it.

She would be the first.

*

It was time. Time to find out if she really was pregnant or if she'd been extremely lucky. She'd had the Pregnancy Detector Potion brewing for half an hour now; having locked her bedroom door to make sure Draco didn't enter and prematurely discover what was going on. With the potion turning yellow, it was now time to find out her fate.

Breathing slowly, Hermione took a knife to her finger and cut it, letting a drop of blood slip into the potion. Thirty seconds and she would have her answer. It was much faster than any Muggle pregnancy test she'd heard of, but it was still the most agonising thirty seconds of her life. She closed her eyes and counted, hesitating when she reached thirty before opening them.

The potion had turned pink. Hermione was pregnant with Draco Malfoy's baby.

*

The door slammed shut as Draco entered. Something had made him mad, which was just Hermione's luck as she was planning on telling him today. She couldn't keep it a secret any longer; it was tearing her apart and she didn't see why she should have to hold all the burden. Granted, this would reflect a lot worse on him than it would on her. It was a scandal if a pure-blood and a Muggle-born ever touched, let alone fucked and had a baby together. Everyone had been up in arms when Dumbledore had announced that the Head Girl and Boy would still share quarters in spite of their blood statuses.

Before Hermione, all previous Head Girls and Boys had been pure-bloods. Every single one of them. It was simply unheard of for a Muggle-born to be elected Prefect, never mind rise any further. Lucius had been particularly outspoken about his views on the matter, and if this had been any business or private club, he would have got his way. There were just some careers and places that were off limits to Muggle-borns, regardless of their ability, and nobody wanted to hire them anyway for fear their pure-blood clientèle would object, so jobs were few and far between.

Hermione assumed that was why Dumbledore had objected; to offer her some sort of responsibility before she had to leave Hogwarts and try and make a living in the wizarding world.

"Draco," Hermione said at last, gathering some courage as he went for another one of her cokes.

"What?" He snapped, glaring at her. Whatever had pissed him off had really got to him.

"We need to talk."

Draco snorted. "I don't think so, Granger. We shag. We don't talk."

"We _need_ to," she insisted. She wasn't going to leave him blissfully ignorant any longer. "There's something you ought to know."

"On the contrary," Draco started, flopping onto the sofa opposite her, "I don't think you have anything of note to tell me."

"Really? I beg to differ. I think you'll be quite interested to hear we're having a baby." The satisfaction of seeing the smug grin wiped off his face soon faded when his shock turned to anger. He looked ready to kill her, jumping up off the sofa and pointing his wand at her. But for whatever reason, he didn't use it. Just stood mere inches away, glaring down at her.

"You _what_?" His voice was booming and she knew he was challenging her. Trying to get her to take it back, say it was a joke. She wouldn't. She couldn't, even if she wanted to. This was no sick joke.

"I'm pregnant." Hermione spoke with trepidation, her tone quiet, almost as if she wished to not be heard. This wasn't fun anymore; it was just scary. She hadn't properly thought of the ramifications. Death was possible, for she wouldn't put it past Lucius to try to kill her. Eliminate the problem. 

"You can't be," Draco said through gritted teeth. "We always cast a Charm for that."

"Not last time."

Silence. She could see his brain working overtime, trying to work out the best course of action. The best possible solution. And then he gave it.

"Get rid of it." The order was simple and his tone expected obedience, but Hermione had never given him that and she wasn't about to start now.

"Excuse me? You can't just command me to get rid of our baby!" She stood so they were level, their eyes meeting. He was only a few centimetres taller than her, a fact he hated whenever she wore her kitten heels.

"I think I just did," Draco said coldly. "I can't have a baby with you, Mudblood. I'm not even supposed to be _fucking_ you."

"Tough shit," she spat back, furious at his response. "We can talk about this sensibly or you can go to hell. If I choose to abort that will be my decision and mine only. Nothing to do with you."

"I don't fucking care who the hell you do it for; you just do it." He stepped forwards, closing the gap between them. "Got it?"

"Fuck you." Her eyes never left his, so she wasn't prepared when his left hand came up and smacked her across the face. She grabbed for her cheek, looking at him with shock and disgust, but he wasn't fazed. Instead he sneered and backed off, leaving their quarters and slamming the door behind him.

*

Draco didn't come back that night, or the night after that, or the night after that. In fact it was a whole six nights before he entered their quarters, sneering at her as she sat curled up on the sofa with a book. By now Hermione had made her decision: she was keeping their baby. Screw the consequences. Lucius might want to have her killed but she doubted he'd be able to get her while she was still at Hogwarts. After that, well, she had Harry and Ron. They wouldn't be happy about her child being half-Malfoy but they wouldn't cast her out like Draco's friends would with him.

In fact, his friends wouldn't be the only ones. She was effectively isolating him from everyone he knew, but she didn't care when he was behaving the way he was. She had no sympathy anymore. The fleeting ounce she did have went as soon as he ordered her to abort.

"I want you out tonight, Mudblood," Draco said sharply, tearing her away from her thoughts. She looked up at him, confused, and his sneer had been replaced with a smirk. "I'm having Pansy over."

"So?" 

"So I don't want you disturbing us. We plan to have a little fun."

Hermione frowned. "I'm not going anywhere, Malfoy. Go play chess in the common room."

Draco snorted. "That's what you think we'll be doing? Fine. Stay. I don't care. But I promise that you will."

There was a lingering thought in the back of her mind, but she cast it aside. He was cruel, but he wasn't that cruel.

*

Except that it appeared Draco _was_ that cruel. Hermione still sat on the sofa, curled up in the same spot she had been earlier, but now she could hear giggles, moans and the bed banging from Draco's room. He'd purposefully left the door open so the sound would travel, as though if it were closed she wouldn't have heard a thing.

Hermione didn't know why it bothered her, why she cared that Draco was cheating on her right in front of her face. She didn't have any feelings for him, didn't love him or want to marry him, so it baffled her as to why she felt jealous that she wasn't the one being taken. This was the first time since she had Draco had been together that he'd slept with anyone else. Just like any other relationship, it was assumed they were exclusive from the moment he asked her out (though afterwards he never freely admitted that's what he'd done, or that they were going out), and she was sure this stint with Pansy was designed to get her to realise her feelings for him and abort the baby.

Like that would be happening any time soon. The notion was utterly ridiculous, but this was Draco she was talking about. For it to even work she had to care for him and she'd never admit that even if she did.

Which she didn't.

"Oi, Granger!" Pansy's high-pitched voice came from the bedroom. "Get us a coke, would you? This is thirsty work!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and settled back into her book. No matter what Draco did, she wouldn't abort. This was her baby and she was having it whether he liked it or not. If he cared so damn much he shouldn't have been so careless as to forget the spell in the first place.

*

"Oh, God," Hermione called out, rushing out of bed and towards the bathroom. With one hand over her mouth she grabbed for the door handle with the other, only to find it locked. "Malfoy! Get out, now! I think I'm going to be sick."

"Tough shit," Draco replied. He'd been using that against her ever since she'd said it to him about the baby. "Be sick somewhere else. It's your problem, you deal with it."

Hermione banged heavily on the door. "I'm not playing around, Malfoy. If you don't get out of there in five seconds I'll be using your bedroom as a replacement bathroom."

"You wouldn't dare," Malfoy challenged, but then the toilet flushed, the taps went on and off and he opened the door. Of course she'd dare and he damn well knew it. "This isn't over, Mudblood."

She just glared at him as she pushed past and dived for the toilet just in time. She hadn't shut the door and he took full advantage of this by watching her throw up over and over again. She felt humiliated, though knowing this was most likely his intention, she didn't show it. "Enjoy the show?" She wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve when she was finished, prompting a disgusted look from him. She just smiled as she flushed the toilet and flounced out without washing her hands.

It was a small satisfaction that she achieved by pushing Draco's cleanliness buttons, but a satisfaction nonetheless. With the way she'd been feeling lately, she needed all the fun she could get.

*

It was rare that Hermione managed to get the bathroom before breakfast these days, for Draco always managed to be using it whenever she wanted it. He didn't care about missing breakfast or his first lesson, but Hermione did, so she'd always had to be the one to give in. Except this morning, Draco had been out the door just as her alarm went off, and she couldn't happier. Peace at last. All he did these days was make life as difficult as possible for her, as though that would somehow convince her that aborting their baby was the right thing to do.

She leisurely strolled to the bathroom, completely exhausted as usual. She was sleeping longer and was even more tired, but from the little she knew about pregnancy, this was normal. She ran the bath as she brushed her teeth but when she turned the tap on to rinse off her brush, she was absolutely horrified at the colour of the water. It was blue. Bright blue. And then it changed to green. It alternated between the two and was even the same with the hot tap. She glanced at the bath, which was exactly the same, and narrowed her eyes as she realised exactly what was happening: Draco.

Furious, she spat out the toothpaste and cleaned her body, hair and teeth with spells. She didn't like doing this as she still felt dirty, but until Draco lifted his spell she wouldn't have a choice. Ready for a confrontation, she stormed out the room as best she could in regards to her tiredness and sporadic nausea and dizziness. She passed several pupils on the way, most of which said hello to her, but she was in such a state she didn't even notice. She was in pursuit of one man and one man only.

Upon entering the Great Hall she scanned the Slytherin table, ignoring Harry and Ron's indication for her to join them. She found him nearest to the door and furthest away from the professors, which was handy as she didn't think they'd approve of her behaviour right now. 

"Malfoy," she spat as she approached the table. He ignored her and carried on eating his breakfast, but most of Slytherin was watching her to see what she'd do. "Malfoy. I want a word. _Now_."

"He clearly doesn't want to speak to you, Mudblood." Pansy sneered at her and Hermione had to fight the urge to slap her. Never before had she been so angry and she hated that it was Draco that had made her this way.

"Fine," Hermione snapped. "We'll do it here then. What have you done to the water?"

Draco turned then and acknowledged her with his usual smirk. "I haven't a clue what you're banging on about, Mudblood. If you don't mind, you're breathing in my general direction and I find it rather disconcerting."

"Ugh!" Hermione stomped her foot and turned to make her way out of the Great Hall when laughter erupted and Draco called her back. She turned and glared at him, a little on edge by the Slytherins poor attempt at trying to cover up their laughter. " _What_?"

"You do realise your skirt is tucked into your knickers, don't you?"

Hermione's eyes grew as big as saucers and she reached behind her, indeed to find he was telling the truth. Alarmed she fixed it immediately, but not before most of the pupils had heard Draco's booming voice and turned to have a look. Thankfully all the other Houses had the grace not to be amused by it, though that didn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks as she exited the Great Hall.

Never before had Hermione been so glad she was friends with the house-elves, for they were more than happy to provide breakfast for her. As much as she couldn't stay in the Great Hall any longer, she couldn't afford to miss a meal anymore.

*

Life with Draco was becoming more and more unbearable. What was worse was that everyone around them could see it was happening and couldn't understand why. They'd never got on, but things between them had never been this heated before. A combination of Hermione's hormones and Draco's anxiety over the baby were just adding fuel to the fire.

At least once every week Draco would bring a girl to their quarters. Most of the time it was Pansy, but she'd also seen him with Daphne and Tracey. Pansy's friends either didn't like her very much or didn't know she was sleeping with Draco too. The more he did this the more jealous Hermione became, and the more she'd had to hide it so Draco wouldn't think he was getting to her. It must have been working, for he'd even taken to shagging on the sofa when he knew she'd be coming back.

Disgusted, Hermione had left immediately. In normal circumstances she would have told Professor McGonagall, but then she'd have to admit exactly why she and Draco were toying with each other, and that was something she didn't want to do. She'd managed to hide her pregnancy so far but as she'd started putting on weight she'd had to perform several glamours on herself so her bump didn't show.

When she'd decided to keep the baby, she hadn't exactly thought of how things would turn out. She'd never given a thought to what she'd do when she gained weight, how she'd finish school or even tell her parents. In fact, the whole reason she'd decided to keep the baby was made from a split second decision when Draco was being a prat. Somehow, it had never felt _real_. She'd gone along as though it was happening to someone else, not to her, but now with the dizzy spells, the swelling of her feet and the beginnings of a craving for pumpkin juice, a drink she'd never liked before, it was all becoming real and glaring her in the face. With the morning sickness she'd been able to 'convince' herself she was just ill, but these symptoms were particularly pregnancy-related.

By her count she was eighteen weeks pregnant, and her moodiness was doing nothing to improve her relationships with her friends, who were already having a hard time trying to figure out her spat with Draco. She often had arguments with them about it when they advised she let it be, which was odd as it was usually the other way round. Still, being rational wasn't her forte at the moment. Pissing Draco off was. She'd been so obsessed with that she'd not really taken the pregnancy seriously. Now she was thinking about exactly what would be happening to her in a few months, she was beginning to panic.

She decided she needed a distraction to take her mind off it. She got up to go to the library, but as she stood her stomach cramped. She frowned and stopped in her tracks, but when it didn't do it again she shrugged it off and left her quarters. She was half way to the library when the cramping started again, and this time it didn't go away. She leant against the wall, rubbing her stomach in the hope that they'd stop, but they didn't. They just got worse and her breathing went awry. Assuming she needed the toilet, which was often the case when her stomach cramped, especially when she'd hardly been able to use her own bathroom due to Draco, she walked slowly to the nearest toilets.

Thankfully there was no one really about as it was after hours, though even if there were she could just shoo them away. It was slow going trying to get to the nearest bathroom, for her cramps just became worse the more she walked. But she had to get there to make them go away, so she just took her time and eventually came across them. They were empty and she took the cubicle closest to her, but when she pulled up her skirt and pulled down her tights and knickers, she was extremely shocked to see blood there. It was only a little blood and she was sure she remembered hearing that spotting during pregnancy was normal, but with the cramps it was rather disconcerting.

What made her even more worried was that it appeared she didn't need the toilet at all. Frowning, she spelled her knickers clean and stuffed them with tissue. She would have to wait until she got back to her quarters to grab some pads.

Confused, scared and more than a little anxious, Hermione made her way back, hoping the fears in the back of her mind were nothing more than paranoia.

*

A couple of days passed and there was no more blood or cramping, relieving Hermione of several fears she'd had. But on the third day, when she woke up in the morning and managed to access the bathroom, she once again saw more blood. This time it was much heavier and there appeared to be clotting, and Hermione just stared at it, not knowing what to do. She didn't think this could be right at all, but she didn't seem to have any options. She could hardly go to the Hospital Wing and allow Madam Pomfrey to heal her, to check that she was okay.

The clots weren't _all_ that big. It was a little more blood than a few days ago, but she was sure it would be fine. She hadn't had cramps this time so there couldn't be any big problem.

Convincing herself she was fine, Hermione wiped away the blood and placed a pad in her knickers. Her anxiety had caused her to carry a few in her skirt pocket, not wanting to be caught out again. With a flush of the toilet and a wash of her hands, Hermione made her way down to breakfast. She was absolutely starving, and so was everyone else by the speed of which they were racing to the Great Hall. She took her time, still tired, but as she descended the stairs she felt dizzy and lightheaded, then her vision blurred and she must have lost her footing as a second later she was falling down the stairs. 

The pain was immense and her stomach had started cramping again. In the background she could hear someone calling her name, but then her vision became spotty and everything went black.

*

Hermione awoke in bed, blinking a couple of times to get her vision straight. She looked around her and saw Harry and Ron asleep on either side of her, so she cleared her throat to wake them. They seemed relieved to see her and bombarded her with her questions that she couldn't formulate properly in her brain. Everything was muddled.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice croaky. Harry passed her a glass of water and she greedily sipped at it. "Why am I in here?"

Ron grabbed her left hand and squeezed tightly. "You fell down the stairs. Michael Corner says he saw you start to sway and then you just fell. He called your name but by the time he'd made it over you'd passed out."

"Oh."

"There's something else," Ron said. He looked at Harry anxiously before continuing. "You, er. You were, erm." He sighed and let go of her hand, but Harry took her other one and carried on where Ron had left off.

"You were pregnant," he said quickly. "Did you know?"

"Were?" Hermione said quietly. Her fears were about to be realised, she knew it.

Harry cleared his throat and spoke almost in a whisper, "You miscarried."

"Why were you pregnant?" Ron asked sharply. He'd obviously found this difficult to deal with, since he and Hermione had unresolved tension between them. "Who did you shag?"

"Ron," Harry said sternly. "Not now, yeah?"

Ron muttered something under his breath but otherwise remained quiet. Hermione bit her lip as she went to and fro between telling them the truth and lying. She eventually decided on telling the truth. They were her best friends and they would support her through this; that she was sure of. Though it would take Ron some time to get over his anger.

"Yes. I knew."

Harry nodded slowly. "Madam Pomfrey isn't sure the fall caused the miscarriage."

"It didn't," Hermione said quickly. "I'd had cramps and bleeding before today."

"There was a lot of blood," Ron chimed in, though he wouldn't look at her.

"You'll be okay, though," said Harry. "Physically, I mean. There's no lasting damage. You just need to rest."

"Yes, and rest she should." Madam Pomfrey walked into the Hospital Wing and eyed Harry and Ron carefully. "I think you boys ought to come back in the morning. It's rather late and Miss Granger needs all the sleep she can get."

Harry and Ron grumbled, but made to get up anyway. They both squeezed her hands and Harry smiled at her, but Ron took off without a glance. She was hurt by this, but she also knew how upset he must be over finding out she'd not only slept with someone else but got pregnant with their baby too.

"We'll talk in the morning, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said pointedly. She walked to her office and extinguished the candles, leaving only the moonlight flooding into the room. 

Hermione was the only one in the Hospital Wing tonight, which was grateful for. She knew the rumours about her fall would be spreading like wildfire, but she really hoped nobody but Harry, Ron and Draco knew about the pregnancy. She didn't think she'd be able to handle the gossip, the stares or the looks, and it really hit home that she hadn't properly thought about having the baby at all. 

With a sigh, she tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes. Perhaps if she slept long enough, this would all go away by the time she woke up.

*

"Granger," a voice hissed. Hands then proceeded to gently shake her awake.

Hermione gurgled some strange noise as she was woken and blinked a few times to adjust her vision in the darkness of the Hospital Wing. When she finally focused on the person in front of her she felt nothing but dread. "Malfoy?"

"What happened?" Draco sounded urgent, as though he was worried about being caught.

"I fell down the stairs," she whispered. "Leave me alone. I need to rest."

"Did you..." Draco started and then stopped. He didn't know how to go on. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say.

"Yes," she replied tersely. "I miscarried. But it wasn't the fall that did it. I had cramps and bleeding beforehand."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Hermione stared at him in shock. Surely it was obvious why she hadn't told him; he'd made it perfectly clear he didn't want their baby or even gave a damn about her, so it should be no surprise that she'd kept this a secret from him. "Are you kidding?"

Draco shook his head.

"Yeah, well." Hermione was feeling annoyed and upset and vengeful. "You've got what you wanted now, haven't you? So you can piss off."

"I wouldn't have..." Draco faltered again. She'd never seen him like this before. He looked broken almost. Certainly morose. "I wouldn't have wanted this."

Hermione snorted. "Just get out."

"Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Of course not," Hermione snapped, scowling at him. "I don't want anyone knowing. My lack of judgement is embarrassing. The secret's safe."

Draco nodded. "Thanks."

"I'm not hiding it for you," she spat. "I would gladly have you ruined, but I won't see myself humiliated." Hermione expected him to come back with a nasty retort or insult, but instead he just stared at her for a few seconds and then got up to leave. He halted at the door too, as though there was something he wanted to say but couldn't.

Hermione didn't give a damn. Nothing he said could ever make this better. This was all his fault anyway. She was sure the stress and anxiety he'd put her through was the cause of her miscarriage. It had to be.

Draco Malfoy was responsible for her baby's death.

*

Three days later and Hermione was allowed out of the Hospital Wing. She was advised not to attend any lessons, but she'd been going crazy not doing anything for so long that she'd decided to go anyway. Everyone treated her with kindness and sympathy, and she soon learnt that the pregnancy had been kept a secret. Madam Pomfrey had told the Headmaster and her Head of House, but nobody else but Harry, Ron and Draco knew. She'd had long talks with all of them and was thoroughly exhausted, especially since she'd point blank refused to state the father.

No matter what they said, did or tried to encourage her with, Hermione wasn't going to reveal him. They all finally realised this and stopped badgering her, and she'd made Harry and Ron promise never to talk of this again. They knew all they needed to know and that was that. They'd grudgingly obliged, and though things with Harry were fine, her relationship with Ron was strained.

Potions was her first lesson of the day and she was escorted there by several Gryffindors, many of which weren't even in her year. She appreciated their efforts to help, but she felt suffocated by it. She didn't tell them that, though. She'd just put up with it. They thought she'd had a funny turn and didn't want to leave her alone lest it happen again, as much as she tried to assure them that it wouldn't.

Unfortunately, Potions was with the Slytherins and Hermione was sure that the second she stepped in the room she'd get a scathing retort from at least one of them. She was right. As soon as she entered everyone stared at her and Pansy's shrill voice was the first to reach her.

"Oi, Mudblood!" Pansy called. "Watch where you're going. Don't want to bump into any desks now, do we?" The Slytherins all burst out laughing at this apparently hilarious joke, though Draco was the exception. Hermione eyed him carefully as he glared at Pansy and was surprised when he actually chastised her for it.

"Leave it, Pansy," Draco muttered. At the shock of his housemates, he quickly added, "She's not worth it." They shrugged and turned away from her as Harry and Ron took her to their desk at the front of the classroom. She settled down and got out her books, but Draco's reaction had baffled her.

Throughout the lesson she stole glances at Draco and every single time he was quiet and sombre, just getting on with his work while the Slytherins messed about around him. Occasionally they'd ask him what was up, but he shook them off each time and they went back to their games. Could it be that Draco was actually feeling sadness over the loss of their baby? Hermione had previously ruled it out due to him wanting her to abort, but if he'd been serious that first night and really hadn't wanted it to end like this then perhaps he was.

This thought wracked her brains all day and she found herself staring at Draco whenever she saw him. At mealtimes, in lessons and even in the hallway. She followed him to the library in the evening and randomly picked up a book, every so often looking at him over the top of it. He was immersing himself in his work, just like she'd been trying to do, until his strange mood had distracted her.

When he finally left, she waited a few moments before leaving herself. She felt tired and sad, as she had for the last three days, but no matter how much she'd wanted to, she hadn't been able to cry. She felt terrible and guilty, as though she was a bad mother for not crying. But nothing would come out. Most of her time in the Hospital Wing had been sleeping and staring at the walls, just thinking about what happened and what could have been. Too much thinking. She'd over thought it and the emotions just seemed to be piling up on top of her and she didn't know how to cope.

Not wanting to be around anyone, Hermione headed back to their quarters, but she was surprised to see Draco on the sofa when she walked in. She'd assumed he'd be in the Slytherin common room, wanting to be away from her, but the majority of the surprise had come from the fact that he was crying. Actually crying. As soon as he saw her he'd tried to cover it up and sneered at her, but this seemed to be the trigger for her and she broke down herself, the tears that had been building up in her over the last few days falling from her face in waves.

Hermione fell to the floor, curled up in herself and sobbed. She expected Draco to laugh at her, to make fun of her or to shout at her, but he didn't. He joined her on the floor and she could hear him crying again. He wasn't hiding it now. Just having him there beside her was comforting, for he was the only other person in the school who truly knew what she was going through.

They stayed like that for a long time. Their crying subsided but they didn't move. They didn't need to talk; their presence was enough for the other one. Hermione wiped her tears away with her sleeve and then felt a hand on her back. It just rested there, comforting her, and she turned to look at Draco for the first time since entering the room. He opened his mouth to say something, what looked like the beginning of an apology, but she put her finger to his lips and stopped him. She didn't need to hear that. This was enough to show that he cared, that the miscarriage had affected him as much as it had her.

It would take a long time for the wounds to heal, a very long time, but with Draco by her side, Hermione was confident they'd be able to get through it. Time is a great healer, and though they'd never truly get over their loss, they'd be able to make it to a place they were comfortable with. 

Of that, Hermione was sure.


End file.
